National Track and Field Hall of Fame

Charleston Gazette
November 29, 1976

'Hall' Ceremonies Beautiful, Except to the Cows

By Danny Wells

It didn't rain on Don Cohen's parade Saturday morning.

While rain was predicted, the sun came down instead. It was a beautiful morning in Putnam County.
Don Cohen is a Charleston optometrist who is better known for producing sports spectaculars in
Charlestom. [sic] He is an expert at organizing parades. Every September he sees to it that nearly
1,000 people parade though the streets of Charleston in their shorts.

Saturday morning, Cohen had another parade going. This one took place in Putnam County between
the Hurricane and Winfield interchanges off Interstate 64.

There they were. All kinds of people walking through cow pastures, walking ever so carefully toward a
particular area which had been roped just for the occasion. The local cows didn't know what the hell
was going on. There were a lot of nervous moos.

It was about a mile walk for the nondignitaries. A pleasant walk on a warm morning with a slight
breeze. The dignitaries were hauled in Army trucks, which didn't look all that dignified. You had to
walk about a half-mile before seeing the destination. Above the moos came the sound of the Hurricane
High School band.

If you had a weird mind, thoughts of a country funeral might come up. Get the picture. Up ahead was a
group of people gathered in a circle in the middle of a big field. And there were shovels. Lots of
shovels. One shovel had five handles. Then there were 14 more shovels. But you don't need that many
shovels to bury somebody. You need that many shovels to build something. And to feed egos.

Don Cohen's parade toward this special place continued for another half-hour. There were kids and
their parents. Teenagers. And television newsmen. The kind that tell you to move out of their way all the
time. And there were cameras. There must have been 200 cameras. Then after you get used to the idea
of hundreds of people walking (carefully) through a cow pasture toward this place in the middle of
nowhere, then you have to get used to the people who got out of the Army trucks. Some people
never did adjust to that.

There were Dwight Stones, the greatest high jumper in the world who covets controversy; Olympic
decathlon champion Bruce Jenner, who looks like Pete Rose should look if the baseball player were
handsome; Bob Hayes, who had outrun hundreds of people wearing shorts and hundreds more wearing
shoulder pads; Ralph Boston, the former broad jumper who looks like a tourist the way he was taking
pictures; and Jesse Owens, who may always be the Main Man in track and field.

There were many more famous athletes that the rest of us had seen only on television or at one of
Cohen's other extravaganzas. But it was quite a sight seeing many of the greatest athletes in the world
grouped together in the middle of a Putnam County cow pasture.

There were touching moments that morning. And there were some humorous times, especially for
people with weird minds. When former sprinter Ralph Metcalf, who is now a Congressman, was giving
the prayer, he referred to Don Cohen as "Don Rose." But that wasn't so bad since both Cohen and
Jack Rose have worked so hard together to get to this day.

It probably was more humorous when Cohen, Gov. Moore and Owens started the digging. Cohen
turned a couple of shovelfuls and then turned to shake hands with Moore. But The Guv was still
digging. And so Cohen's hand was just kind of out there in space while Moore kept digging. If you
have a weird mind, you could have imagined Moore building the entire Hall of Fame right there on the
spot. Or you could get a picture of Moore imagining he was digging a huge grave for a certain tall
democrat he had once slain but who had risen to seize the throne. That is, if you had a weird mind.

But Moore finally stopped diggitig and then everybody got down to some serious handshaking.

At times the whole thing seemed unreal. Three years ago, Cohen spent most of time with his glasses
and his family. Three years ago Jesse Owens knew he belonged in a track Hall of Fame but also knew
there wasn't such a thing. And three year[s] ago, Gov. Moore didn't know one of many future battles
with the state legislature would be over funds for a Track Hall of Fame in His state.

But they were all there Saturday morning, including Cohen's family.

Don Cohen has a beautiful family. There is Betsy, 14; Leslie, 17; Zoe, 15: Brad, 19 and Flora Lee,
none of your business. Bright people. Fun to be around. Years from now each of the kids will be trying
to answer a question over and over again:

"How in the world did your dad. who was an optometrist, ever get involved with a track hall of fame?"

It would be interesting to hear their answer.

The entire ceremony took about an hour. Three flags were raised which can be seen from the
Interstate. Look for them over to the left a couple of miles after you pass the Winfield interchange going
towards Huntington. And there were speeches.

Easily the most popular athlete in the crowd was Jenner, "the best athlete in the world," who may not be
able to play football worth a lick. Jenner signed his name a hundred times and didn't seem to mind. He
even signed a guy's shirt.

Jenner appears to be sure of himself when it comes to his new world of dangling dollar bills which will
replace all that amateur stuff where applause and medals were the "only" rewards.

"I'm just going to be myself," said Jenner as he signed his name for a cute thing who addressed him as
"Brucie."

Jenner was presented with a blue Hall of Fame blazer. Trouble is, someone stole a button from it. And
the hanger which came with the coat. Souvenirs for hero worshippers. And Jenrier can't even sing.

Does he still work out?

"No, I don't have time."

"Then I guess you've gained weight."

"Naw. I've LOSTeight pounds."

When the ceremonies were over and everybody except Wade Utay had taken a turn at digging a hole
in the ground, the parade of people started back to Route 34 where the nondignitaries had parked their
cars. The dignitaries departed in those undignified Army trucks.

Cohen still had Saturday night in front of him. And that was the disappointing part for a man who is
used to hurdling disappointments. Alan King, Roberta Flack and Spinners were to entertain at the
Civic Center in a benefit show to raise money for the Hall of Fame.

But a "benefit performance" does not mean a free performance. The performers were paid plenty. And
the ticket sales were slow.

"By the way, Don, where's the money coming from to pay the singers?"

"You're looking at it," he said without a trace of a smile.

The crowd didn't seem so small that night. About 3,000. But it wasn't enough to make any money for
the Hall of Fame. It was too bad, too, for the people who didn't see the show. King was funny. And it's
worth more than $10 to hear Roberta Flack sing "Killing Me Softly. "Or to see The Spinners dance
with rubber bands.

But Cohen still is way ahead of the game. He could have stayed in his office duririg the past five years
and worked on glasses, eyeballs and nothing else. But he didn't. And because he didn't, many of the
world's top athletes have visited West Virginia for the first time in their lives. And because he didn't, we
have a 15-mile distance run every September that is pure class as an athletic event.

And there's a National Track and Field Hall of Fame being built in Putnam County. It's too bad private
money couldn't have been used to build the facility. The AAU, NCAA and other governing bodies in
track and field should have helped get the money. But it didn't happen.

But I'm looking forward to the day when we'll be driving out to Putnam County to see the Olympic
trials and many other top track events.

It didn't rain on Don Cohen's parade Saturday...Instead, it was a beautiful morning...